Our 2022 Ram 1500 TRX Hits Its Stride

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30,000-Mile Update

As in any meaningful relationship, our quality time with the Ram 1500 TRX has seen its share of ups and downs. Its unhinged bravado and rowdy 3.8-second runs to 60 mph have been great. Its wallet-busting fuel consumption and persistent infotainment system glitches, not so much. But as our TRX enters the twilight of its 40,000-mile test, it seems to be doing its best to show us that plenty of good days still lie ahead.

Communication being key in any living arrangement, our big Ram is starting to talk sense. Thanks to modern connectivity, an over-the-air software update at 26,000 miles finally—finally—exorcized the worst of the demons that had taken up residence in its 12.0-inch center touchscreen. Reports of system crashes have stopped, as have angry critiques in the logbook. It still throws the occasional tantrum—activating the windshield wipers now sometimes puts the touchscreen in nighttime mode and makes the display in the gauge cluster blink—but compared to how buggy this Uconnect system was previously, we'll take it. That it took Stellantis this long to (mostly) fix is another matter.

Blessed with relatively normal operation, our TRX has happily continued with its truck duties, towing, hauling, and ferrying as many people and things as we can saddle it with. Treks to Minnesota and throughout Michigan have even helped to boost its average fuel economy from 10 to 11 mpg—a 10 percent increase. And with the electronic hiccups having no bearing on performance, this 702-hp pickup on 35-inch tires remains hilariously effective at intimidating just about anything that crosses its path.

To put those core features to proper use, director of vehicle testing Dave VanderWerp made an impromptu visit to the sand dunes of Michigan's Silver Lake State Park—the only place within a couple of time zones of our Ann Arbor HQ where the TRX can be fully unleashed. Free from the constraints of responsible road use, our Ram was in its element climbing the mountains of soft sand. It's also one of few places where the TRX's abundance of horsepower feels "not at all excessive," as VanderWerp noted. "The V-8 sounds so amazing while working hard that it's almost worth the $200 fill-ups."

Indeed, keeping the TRX running through all this has been a significant investment, especially when the price of premium at our local gas station is hovering around $5 per gallon. Fortunately, our truck's basic functions continue to be reliable, never taking it out of service. Though its latest routine service at 31,420 miles was the most expensive yet—$370, largely due to the replacement of the three air filters for the cabin and the one for the blown V-8, which cost $167 in parts alone—that's hardly egregious in the context of 700-hp internal-combustion vehicles.

As we look toward the fast-approaching conclusion of our TRX's long-term test, we still have some things on our to-do list, specifically a deeper investigation into the drivetrain clunks that our truck continues to make at stop-and-go speeds. And while we're not looking forward to saying goodbye to our brutish partner, we are excited for the Ford F-150 Raptor R to soon join the TRX's ranks of absurdly powerful, off-road-oriented factory pickups. For now, though, we're fairly content in our TRX's imperfect world.

Months in Fleet: 10 months Current Mileage: 33,477 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 11 mpg
Fuel Tank Size: 33.0 gal Observed Fuel Range: 360 miles
Service: $942 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0
Damage and Destruction: $0

20,000-Mile Update

The first half of our Ram 1500 TRX's 40,000-mile test has revealed a couple of frustrating constants. That it drinks fuel with startling proficiency is well documented (we're still averaging just 10 mpg). But our 702-hp beast of a Ram also has come to harbor sporadic—and difficult-to-diagnose—malfunctions in its 12.0-inch center touchscreen, which have inexorably drawn our staff's attention as of late. This issue is having a noticeable impact on the TRX's fun factor.

Our truck's ongoing electronic woes come somewhat unexpectedly—despite the similar experience we had with our 2019 Ram 1500 long-termer—because Stellantis's (and formerly Fiat Chrysler's) Uconnect infotainment system has historically been one of the best, bringing crisp graphics, quick load times, and generally great usability. While its baseline functionality remains strong, our truck's portrait-oriented big screen is plagued with bugs that don't seem to be present in the company's smaller displays. "When did Uconnect get so awful?" asked one of the kinder logbook commenters. "This thing just crashes constantly."

The descriptions of the random hiccups—dropped Bluetooth connections, audio controls that sometimes take 30 seconds to respond to inputs, an occasionally nonfunctioning driver's door speaker, and navigation and full-system crashes at inopportune times—have us wondering if our truck is beginning to form a mind of its own. "It's irritating to think that $91,030 buys you all this truck but also all these issues that the dealer can't seem to replicate and fix," one driver pointed out.

Indeed, attempts to address these problems have thus far been unsuccessful. Following a software update at around 5700 miles, we returned to the dealer at 12,600 miles. An infotainment fault code was detected, and a new screen assembly was ordered and ultimately installed at 16,700 miles under warranty. But the problems persist, as creative director Darin Johnson experienced on a trek from Michigan to Florida and back with his family and two dogs. "Having an infotainment system that has so many gremlins acting up multiple times per hour is no way to spend 40 hours behind the wheel."

Outside of the digital troubleshooting, since our last update at around 11,000 miles, our truck's oil-life monitor has prompted three routine oil changes, inspections, and tire rotations that averaged $139 per visit. We're continuing to watch a couple other matters for signs of future trouble. More than one driver has noted that the TRX's admittedly hefty steering effort feels heavier than they remember from previous test vehicles. We're also sensing an increasing amount of slack in its drivetrain, which is manifesting in intermittent clunks at stop-and-go speeds and when shifting from Drive to Reverse and vice versa. The latter issues likely are the unsurprising—though not exactly reassuring—results of a ton of power enthusiastically meeting more than three tons of pickup day after day. We made an unscheduled stop at the dealer for an investigation, but nothing amiss in our truck's driveline has been found.

On the plus side, our late-season winter-tire experiment was a success, at least for the couple of weeks we had them installed until snow gave way to an early Michigan spring. With no suitable winter tires available in the TRX's OE size (LT325/65R-18), we were left searching for a 35-inch alternative with smaller, more intricately cut tread blocks, which in theory would offer better grip in white powder than the chunky lugs of the stock Goodyear Wranglers. The best option seemed to come in BFGoodrich's All-Terrain T/A KO2, sized 35X12.5R-18LT, which cost us $1476 at Tirerack.com. We have yet to reinstall the BFGs to see how they compare to the Goodyears at the test track. But drivers who experienced both setups reported less road noise, slightly better road manners, and greater confidence in slush and snow with the BFGs.

Additional praise has been directed at the TRX's trailering ability. Although it takes less than the 8100-pound towing maximum to compress the off-road-oriented suspension into something approaching a Carolina Squat, the TRX's supercharged V-8—plus its easy-to-use trailer-steer assistant and adaptive blind-spot monitoring—made quick work of towing a U-Haul trailer loaded with director of vehicle testing Dave VanderWerp's recently purchased 1994 Ford Ranger work truck. Impressively, he also averaged an indicated 10 mpg during the exercise, which means he either had help from a gale-force tailwind or showed an unusual amount of respect to the TRX's accelerator.

Speaking of respect, our truck now commands a bit more street cred after a return visit to Virginia International Raceway, where it—along with our long-term BMW M3 and C8 Chevy Corvette—lapped the 4.1-mile Grand Course during Car and Driver's first Lightning Lap Track Day. It was a less-than-committed outing, meant more for earning the right to wear a sticker of the track's outline than setting a hot lap time. But it does make our TRX feel a little more special—which helps us tolerate its less desirable quirks.

Months in Fleet: 8 months Current Mileage: 24,849 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 10 mpg
Fuel Tank Size: 33.0 gal Observed Fuel Range: 330 miles
Service: $572 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0
Damage and Destruction: $0